The Sunday Harvest

18052008

Offensive Player of the Week: LF Cole Gillespie

Last 10 Games: .333 BA, 2 2B, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 2 SB

Cole is one of the most intriguing prospects in Huntsville. He has the tools to be a solid major league player someday, but he cannot play anything defensively but a corner outfield spot. Scouts say that his power must improve to seriously compete for a big league job there someday. If Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, and Matt LaPorta are still there in a few years, I would agree with that sentiment. That said, Cole has shown a good amount of power this year, this week in particular. Half of his 8 home runs have come this week, and he’s plating a good handfull of runs at the same time. The offense in Huntsville is sick…in case you haven’t noticed yet.

Honorable Mention

3B Russell Branyan – (Last 10: .378 BA, 3 2B, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 2 SB) – Russell has done nothing but rake in Triple-A. He deserves to be called up. If Ned Yost really doesn’t want to platoon Bill Hall, that’s fine (even though he’s stupid not to). The Brewers signed him for insurance in case of an injury. No one may be injured physically, but there are plenty of Brewers that are struggling offensively between the ears.

C Jonathan Lucroy – (Last 10: .378 BA, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB) – Jonathan continues to produce down in West Virginia. He has been one of the only bright spots offensively in West Virginia, save Zelous Wheeler. Their batting has been horrid this entire year. Lucroy is showing plus power and great plate discipline. In the past 10 games his BB:K ratio is 4:3. I’m getting more and more excited about Jonathan’s big league prospects every week.

3B Steffan Wilson – (Last 10: .412 BA, 6 2B, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB) – West Virginia does have another bat producing. I just didn’t want to give away the last player. Steffan is a relatively unknown prospect, to me at least, but he is proving he belongs in the starting lineup for the Power. He did not start to begin 2008. Steffan’s bat has made it all but impossible to keep him from starting now. Perhaps I’ll get a Minor League Profile on Steffan sometime soon.

Pitcher of the Week: RHP Donovan Hand

Last Week: 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Donovan only made one start last week, but he made it count. If you remember the Jonathan Lucroy interview a while back, Jon said that Donovan was the best pitcher he had caught in the Brewers system. His composure and good stuff have served him well in 2008. His strikeout rate tends to run a little low at times, but the five strikeout performance is more than acceptable from a groundball pitcher.

Honorable Mention

LHP Lindsay Gulin – As a whole, the pitching in Nashville has been poor. Extremely poor. Lindsay gave the Sound a great performance last week, going six innings of shutout ball. He did not allow a single hit throughout those six innings, though he did walk four batters. The lefty also struck out 10 batters in that span. A left-handed pitcher that can put up those type of strikeout numbers demand attention very quickly. His command is an issue, however.

LHP Steve Hammond – Steve is making a habit of making this list. It may be because he is a personal favorite of mine, but his numbers say he deserves it as well. This week, Steve’s start went six innings, and he did not give up a run while walking two and striking out three. The three strikeouts are a far cry from the ten he had in his previous start, but the shutout ball is impressive. His ERA is now down to 2.61.

LHP Sam Narron – Wow. Left-handed pitchers all over the place. Sam pitched an absolute gem this week for Huntsville. On May 14, he went the distance, giving up only one run. The southpaw scattered eight hits in the outing, while walking and striking out one a piece. The strikeout numbers need to climb a bit, but with a 2.40 GO/AO ratio (ground-out/air-out), it is not too overly important. That is a rather nice ratio. Sam has pitched exceedingly well this season and now has a 2.77 ERA on the year.

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